Book IX of The Protector
by Anmras
Summary: After a month in Rohan, a good friend of Legolas's is captured. It is up to him to return his greatest friend to his family, not matter the cost.
1. Chapter 25

Another time skip has occurred, just in case you're confused. Exams are done now, so I'll be able to write quicker! YAY!  
  
Chapter 25  
  
A whole month.  
  
He had changed so much.  
  
He looked different: older and more like a man then an elf. He acted different: private and secretive of whom he was and where he was going. He felt different: the lack of love that Elenest and his father had given him in Mirkwood was a heavy weight on his shoulders.  
  
He was in the wilderness again. He had several gold and bronze coins in his pocket to pay with. He sported a new scrape on his forehead from his last melee against a smaller piece of the gangs that were attacking a wagon heading by on a trail. His rib was healed, along with the cut on his shoulder. He had seen two other villages on his way back to the northeastern part of the Wold. He had taken a different route in case the gangs were looking for him, which they no doubt were.  
  
Finally, it came to it. Legolas was facing the burned down house where the farmer had asked him to check on his family southward, resulting in Legolas's capture and choice to protect the people of Rohan from the gangs that caused them more pain then he thought imaginable.  
  
The house had been completely torn down and a small cabin was being built beside the grove of trees where Legolas had first seen the farmer and his family. He approached the cabin with the snow drifted against it and knocked on the board where the door was supposed to be.  
  
The little boy answered and smiled up at him.  
  
'Hello!' he said cheerfully. Legolas smiled down at him.  
  
'Hi there!' he answered back, pretending to be happy. Inside his heart felt cracked.  
  
'I remember you!' he unexpectedly yelled. The farmer then appeared in the door behind him.  
  
'Garet, who is it?' he asked. Legolas met his eyes and they shared a silence that the child was oblivious to.  
  
'Can I talk to you?' he asked. The farmer nodded and stepped out of the house. He hugged himself in the cold air. Legolas had his hands shoved into the pockets of a jacket that he had bought in one of the villages.  
  
'I went to your cousin's home.' he said. The farmer's eyes focused tightly on him with a heavy weight of expectance. 'The... the gangs were already there.' he didn't tell the rest of the tale. He didn't want the farmer to think of anything but his family. He wanted him to realize that they were gone, but he would see them again. Not here, not now, but sometime and somewhere.  
  
The farmer's face went blank. His skin began to lose color. Legolas guessed that he had been expecting this. There was little hope left for Rohan now. He prayed that somehow it could be restored.  
  
'Thank you...' he said quietly. He looked over his shoulder at their new house. Legolas could feel his intentions to harm it somehow. To destroy everything he had and put an end to his life. 'You didn't... are you sure?' his voice cracked as he looked back at Legolas.  
  
Legolas slowly nodded.  
  
The farmer turned away and walked slowly back to the doorway. His step had lost a lot of its energy, as though he had just aged forty years. He grabbed the doorframe.  
  
'It's just as well.' he muttered. 'Everyone here is going to die. These people are sucking our hopes and dreams away like a drink that only makes you thirstier. They'll kill us all and take our lands that we worked so hard for that they'll just take like that.' his grip tightened on the doorframe.  
  
Legolas sighed and stepped closer. He put his hand on the man's shoulder and gently grasped it.  
  
'They're nothing but greedy vermin that will try and get anything they can.' agreed Legolas. 'But you don't have to worry about them harming you or yours any longer.'  
  
With a sob the farmer turned quickly and embraced Legolas. Legolas was stunned, but not surprised. He held the man who's legs gave out from underneath him. He cried into Legolas's chest and fell to his knees.  
  
'Thank you!' he cried. 'Oh, Valar, thank you!'  
  
*  
  
Legolas snapped awake. Something had stirred his sleep against the tree where his chest was buried. He had a thick blanket draped over him and his fire hadn't entirely burnt out. He could see perhaps twenty feet into the swirling snow around him. The wind was cold and nipped at his ears and fingers. He shivered and stood up. He pulled a small knife from a sack nearby and picked up his dim torch from the coals.  
  
'Who's there?' he said in a groggy voice. Suddenly, out of the snow, came a young girl. Her hair was blown about and there was dried blood on her cheek. 'Gabrielle!' he cried in exasperation. Gabrielle is Redd's eldest daughter but no more then ten years old.  
  
'Legolas! Thank Valar!' tears appeared in her eyes as she collapsed beside Legolas fire. Legolas threw his blanket on her and she wrapped it around her shoulders.  
  
'What are you doing here? Where are Hanna and Rye?'  
  
'They're safe now! They're in a village south of here.' she gasped for breath and looked up at Legolas. He could see her blue lips and pale face in the orange firelight. What could have driven her to come hear all alone in weather like this? 'Legolas, my father needs your help! He needs you to save him!' 


	2. Chapter 26

@ Deana - Yes, Legolas goes on a rescue mission for his best friend in Rohan. The thing about it though is that he doesn't get out okay. PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!  
  
Chapter 25  
  
'What?' asked Legolas, unsure of what she had said. 'Why? What's the matter?'  
  
'The gangs came and took him away! He was at the market buying food and I watched them come on horseback and take him!' Legolas could only think of one reason why the gangs took Redd. Because someone saw him with Legolas after their battle at the village. Because someone knew how to capture Legolas.  
  
'Do you know where they went?' he asked, grasping Gabrielle's trembling shoulder.  
  
'I saw them go westwards, but I didn't follow. I tried to ask people for help but nobody listened to me! Please, Legolas, you have to save him!' Legolas wrapped the little girl in the blanket tightly and stood up with her in his arms.  
  
'I go after him, but I'm going to put you in a safe place first! Are Rye and Hanna in the same village your father was taken from?'  
  
'Y-yes.' Gabrielle began to shiver.  
  
'Tell me what it is called.'  
  
*  
  
Weltike. Small to look at, but the buildings were tall and close together. People here seemed much more cheerful then they were in most villages in Rohan. There was fresh food on the tables and children playing in the allies. The sight of the smiles made Legolas feel happy, but their eyes were dimmed with the threat of the gangs that pressed on all sides.  
  
Legolas came to a young woman who was obviously a barmaid by the looks of her stained apron and frazzled hair.  
  
'Excuse me,' he said. 'Have you heard of two children by the name of Rye or Hanna?' she looked him up and down and grinned.  
  
'Yeah, they're both at the house in the center of town with the black door and wooden roof. Legolas thanked her and continued through the crowded street. 'You might want to say I sent you!' she called after him. Legolas turned around and asked:  
  
'What's your name?'  
  
'Catrimay!' Legolas barely heard it before being swept away by two women with baskets.  
  
Legolas hurried into town which seemed to get taller and taller around him. When he came to the square he was greatly surprised.  
  
Not only were the flowerbeds bright green with winter plants like mintberry and snow grass, but the trees still had many of their leaves clinging to them, some were even still green among yellow and red. Legolas stood and stared at them for a moment. The last time he had seen some color in the trees was when he was back home in Mirkwood.  
  
Finally, when Legolas pulled his eyes away from the trees, he immediately spotted the building with the black door and wooden roof. It was only one level, but long and wide. He hurried over through the throng of children sitting down and readying themselves to watch a puppet show in a window of another building.  
  
'Legolas!' Legolas stood stock still at the sound of his name. He slowly looked around. He sighed as he realized it was the voice of a child and smiled when Rye and Hanna came running at him from the kids and the window. Legolas stumbled backwards as Rye embraced him around his knees. Legolas gently pushed the child away after a moment and kneeled down to be face-to-face with him.  
  
'Please, Rye, don't call me Legolas!' he whispered. 'You must call me Fermanir, that is very important that you call me that!' Legolas glanced around to see if anyone had heard.  
  
'Did Gabrielle find you?' asked Hanna anxiously. 'Is she all right?'  
  
'Gabrielle found me. She's safe at a farm not too far from here with a few friends of mine. I just needed you to know that.'  
  
'You're going to save father?' asked Rye.  
  
'Yes, I'm going after your dad.' replied Legolas. 'I can't stay long and I need you two to tell me all you know about the men who took him.'  
  
'They were all on horses,' started Rye and Gabrielle at the same time.  
  
'They had black masks on-'  
  
'With red symbols on their cloaks-'  
  
'All the horses were black-'  
  
'Missing an eye-'  
  
'Slow down!' hissed Legolas more harshly then he would have liked. However, there was no time to apologize. 'One at a time.'  
  
As they had said: Gang members with black masks and cloaks with a strange circular red symbol on their clothing. Their horses were all black with black saddles and no baggage. They only took Redd and ran from the town. The man who picked up Redd was missing an eye and had an evil complexion.  
  
'You two are safe here, yes?' he asked at the end.  
  
'Father told us that we shouldn't have to worry about anything in this town.' said Hanna.  
  
'He said there's a strange magic that protects it from them.' Legolas doubted that since the gangs could get in, take someone and get away unharmed.  
  
'All right.' he reached in his pocket and handed them both a gold coin. 'In case you need anything.' he explained. 'Stay here and don't talk to anyone about me. Pretend I don't exist and try not to talk about your father.' he put two hands on each of their shoulders.  
  
'I promise, I'll come back with your father.'  
  
*  
  
Legolas was running as fast as he could manage westwards from Weltike. He didn't look back over his shoulder at all but focused on the white world ahead.  
  
Eventually, he descended a snowy hill into a slightly forested gully. He examined the ground carefully, looking for any sign of a trail or footprints. There was nothing on the ground since the snow had covered it all up so that it would be up to his knees should he have sunk down. He carefully examined the branches and large shrubs for any sign of recent passing.  
  
Nothing.  
  
He was at a dead end on his search for his friend. 


	3. Chapter 27

@Deana – Believe, me, this chapter has a lot of action that you won't be able to bear.  
  
Chapter 27  
  
Legolas looked over the ground for hours on end without rest. The sun was beginning to set behind the gully wall above him and the air growing colder.  
  
With a heavy sigh of frustration Legolas sat down in the snow.  
  
~Sit around and loose myself, again.~  
  
~Never thought I'd wait to realize.~  
  
Suddenly, he fell backwards and the snow began to fall in a white flurry around him. He was rolling then came to a painful stop against something hard. He blinked several times. He was in a strange and uncomfortable position against a hard rock in a dirt tunnel. Up ahead there was a perfectly square opening that had dry snow falling over the edges towards him.  
  
The tunnel was dark and slanted into the gully wall. Legolas stood and brushed himself off. He turned and looked behind him.  
  
The tunnel stretched on into darkness. The ground had fresh hoof prints on it. It stretched high above his head and was about fourteen feet wide. It was like a castle corridor that led downwards. Legolas took a deep breath and sighed. This must be where the gang members were. There was no other sign of them heading off somewhere else.  
  
~ I can't hold on to what you see,~  
  
~And I can't move when your down on your scene.~  
  
Clenching his fists and taking a deep breath, he plunged into the darkness of the underground corridor.  
  
Legolas walked for what seemed like hours. The floor underneath his feet would get suddenly hard, then soft and mucky. He fell more then once when the loose stones below his feet would slip away. Sometimes it would get very steep and there was one drop-off that made Legolas fall and roll into something hard. Groping in the dark he realized he had come to a wooden wall. He heard the whinny of a horse just beyond it. Legolas looked around, squinting to try and locate a source of light. He realized he was in a much bigger chamber with a very high roof and smooth floor. The gang members must've put their horses in a stable beyond this door.  
  
Legolas crept carefully and silently around, searching for some kind of opening that lead somewhere else. Eventually, he spotted shadows and an orange glow that flickered coming from a tunnel.  
  
'Who's there?' someone voiced out. Legolas cringed and shrank away against the wall beside the archway opening. A gang member came out holding a torch and illuminating the room. He stepped right past Legolas and searched around. The light of the torch fell on a satchel in the corner. One of Legolas's satchels.  
  
~A mistake, it's all I remember,~  
  
~Trying to hold on to all of my ways.~  
  
Legolas expected the man to wheel around and spot him. Instead, he picked up the bag and opened the door into the stables and stepped inside. Legolas could hear talking but avoided what they were saying and started creeping up the tunnel where the man had entered.  
  
He rounded three dark corners until he came to a staircase that led down into a brightly lit cavern. There was a crystalline stream that led in between several tents and fire pits. Legolas looked up to see openings about the size of a head all around the ceiling of the cave. He could see the stars and constellations of the sky through them. The water fell through several of them into the stream in a quiet hiss. Legolas could see several men bathing in a deeper part of the stream. near a cavern wall with a little culvert that the water disappeared in.  
  
Legolas's head snapped the other way when he heard someone yelling. There was a large stone threshold that led into a chamber that was completely glowing with firelight. The yells echoed throughout the cave but nobody seemed to pay any attention. There was the crack of a whip and a stifled cry.  
  
Through the doorway, Legolas saw someone fall to his knees.  
  
'Redd!'  
  
~So save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~How could you realize.~  
  
~You save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~How could you realize.~  
  
Legolas had his blade out in a second and it was glowing brightly. All the gang members turned to look at him, some in awe, others in anger and hatred. Legolas let out a cry and leapt down the staircase. He skipped the last few steps into a mob of gang members that awaited him. Slashing and swiping he stepped forward and made his way through the swarm. When he was in sight of the door again he bolted towards it, the gang members on his heels.  
  
Leaping through Legolas could see several gang members cringe and back away. Legolas paused for a second and stared in shock.  
  
~Good-bye.~  
  
Redd was on his stomach with his hand tied behind his bare back. His pants were torn and his flesh bleeding profusely. One of the gang members was kneeling down right beside him, a knife to his neck. Redd tried to get up but the gang member knocked him on the head.  
  
Frozen in anger and fear of the gang member harming Redd, Legolas let other gang members grab him by the arms and push him down to his knees. He never took his eyes off Redd, lying on the floor in more pain and fear then he'd ever seen him.  
  
~Sit around and find myself again,~  
  
~Never thought I'd wait to justify.~  
  
The gang member holding Redd down stood and smiled. Redd started to stand up slowly, but froze halfway up at the sight of the gang members behind him. Legolas couldn't count the amount of welts, bruises and cuts on his body, but knew that each one was causing more pain then anyone deserved.  
  
~I can't hold on to what you see,~  
  
Redd shot Legolas a look that told him: 'You shouldn't have come here.'  
  
~And I can't move when your down on your scene.'  
  
What could Legolas have done? Left the gang members to kill him and leave his kids behind? He promised them he'd return with his father. He couldn't forget the look on their face, the joy and relief, when he swore that Redd would see them again.  
  
And now he had failed.  
  
~So save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~How could you realize?~  
  
~So save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~How could you realize?~  
  
'Fermanir?' the gang member said, loud and clear so that everyone in the room could hear. Legolas hesitated before answering.  
  
'What do you want?'  
  
'Well, obviously, we got what we wanted.' Legolas glanced at Redd. His hands suddenly appeared in front of him as his bonds were cut. Legolas could see the raw rings around his wrists. 'We'll let your friend go now, since we have you.'  
  
~Good-bye.~  
  
Legolas looked at the man before him, then at Redd.  
  
'Sounds fair enough.' Redd's eyes widened in horror. Both of them knew that the gang members had no reason to really harm Redd, but had plenty to cause pain for the man that had been killing them off.  
  
~Good-bye.~  
  
'Take him away.' said the gang member, waving a hand. Redd was pushed out of the chamber.  
  
'Fermanir!' he called over his shoulder, but a hit to one of his fresh welts caused him to be silent. Legolas watched him go, feeling relieved that he was at last safe.  
  
~Good-bye!~  
  
'Bye, Redd...' he said slowly.  
  
~So save me...~  
  
~So save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~How could you realize?~  
  
~You save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~How could you realize?~  
  
Redd watched Legolas until he was blindfolded to be lead out of the cave. A silent tear rolled down his face.  
  
~You saved me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on,~  
  
~You better realize!~  
  
~How could you realize?~  
  
~So save me in my life,~  
  
~Just hold on...~  
  
.  
  
Love it? Hate it? Leave it? It took me forever to pick this song and so sorry if some of the lyrics are wrong. 


End file.
